Always Be My Home
by Sarahhewitt14
Summary: Lucky is furious after finding out Elizabeth was having an affair with Nikolas but when something threatens Elizabeth's life and sanity once again, will Lucky be there for her? Rated T for some violence scenes and some language.
1. Chapter 1

"What have I done?" Elizabeth said starring at a picture of her and Lucky at their first wedding. "I've destroyed us, I-I've destroyed our family and our future." She lightly circled his face wishing they could go back and do things over.

Today was not a good day. She'd lashed out at a little boy's mother for making a mistake which ended in her getting suspended from her job, then she ran into Lucky at Jake's and that was, shall we say less than pleasant. Today was just not a good day. Elizabeth thought as a tear rode down her cheek.

She brought the photo to her chest and slowly lid down to cry herself asleep once again.

---

Elizabeth dragged herself out of bed and made herself look somewhat presentable. Most days she didn't care what she looked like but she was going to make an effort to get Lucky to talk to her and she didn't want to look like she'd been living in a cave the last few days.

Elizabeth drove over to the station when she knew Lucky was about to be finished and cut him off before he got to his car.

"Hey Lucky, wait"

"Elizabeth, I really don't want to see you right now."

"Lucky, its about the kids."

"No! Don't do that!" Lucky yelled.

"Do what?"

"Use the kids as a way to get me back into your life. Its sick and twisted!" Lucky paused scoffing, "but I guess seeing as how that's all you ever prove to be lately, why should I expect anything more?"

Elizabeth froze for a second, gathering her thoughts. She wasn't use to his cold behaviour, but she wasn't about to hold it against him after what she'd done.

Lucky was about to get in his car when Elizabeth stopped him again.

"No wait! Listen, I really need to talk to you. No games--I promise."

"Well, promises don't really mean much coming from you now does it?"

"Lucky, I get it." Elizabeth burst, she tried to be strong but her voice trembled. "I know I let you down. I know I let the boys down. I don't know what you want me to say because I've said everything I can possibly think of and those words still don't come close to how sorry I am--" 

Lucky cut her off.

"Why don't you just get to the point? I've got places to be, people to see." Lucky said in a detached scripted way.

Elizabeth was again silenced for a moment. "I just, uh, I wanted to know if you were going to come see the boys anytime soon. They keep asking for you." Elizabeth searched for Lucky's eyes but he did not meet hers.

"Have you told them anything?"

"No. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how you wanted to handle it so I just told them you were busy at the station." Elizabeth said quietly.

Lucky said nothing.

"Listen, if you want I can have Robin or somebody to bring them to you whenever you want to see them. Just call whoever and we'll arrange it so you don't even have to see me." Elizabeth said trying to sound as sincere as she could.

Lucky finally looked at her. He studied her for a few seconds and looked away again.

"We don't have to do that. I'll come over whenever".

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to take them tonight. They've just about had it with me. I think they really miss you."

"Uh, yeah sure...fine. I'll follow you home now. Are they with the sitter?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Okay, I'll see you in a bit."

-----

Elizabeth got to her house and let the sitter go.

"Thanks again".

"No problem. Call me if you need me again."

"I will" Elizabeth said faking a smile.

The kids were on the couch watching TV when Lucky walked in the room. Elizabeth felt like her stomach was in her throat, remembering the last time Lucky was here he was chewing her and Nikolas out for their affair. She had to shake that thought from her head.

"Hey guys!" Lucky said.

The boys screamed and ran to Lucky jumping in his arms. Elizabeth couldn't help but stare at her family. Well, what could've been the most wonderful family before she wrecked everything.

"Hey boys, come here and give mommy a hug before you go. Remember to be on your best behaviour ok?" The boys nodded sweetly and hugged their mom.

Elizabeth stood up facing Lucky. "So I'll see you in a couple of days".

"Uh, yeah sure sure." Lucky said in a monotone voice. "C'mon boys lets go." This he said in an almost musical tone, the one he used to talk to her with.

She closed the door and leaned her back against the door and slowly fell to the floor. The only sound she could hear was the sound of her heart being broken in two once more.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Elizabeth decided to take a walk, thinking maybe a change of scenery would help clear her mind. Lately her mind was so full or everything else, she didn't know what was what anymore. She needed a break.

She started to walk through the park, stopping every now and then when she passed somewhere that reminded her of Lucky. She was now torturing herself. She could remember every time they took just a casual stroll through the park, hand in hand, kissing and whispering in each other's ear. It seemed like yesterday and yet it had been years since they were in each other's lives in such a way.

Elizabeth stopped. She was in the middle of the park. It was dead quiet. The only thing she could hear was the snow crunching beneath her feet. That was when she realized her feet weren't moving.

She looked around but she could only see a few feet in front of her it was so dark. The noise stopped and Elizabeth laughed silently to herself. She was becoming paranoid--she heard it again. It couldn't have been more than 10 feet from her. She wanted to speak but her voice was gone. She couldn't't move.

Whoever was there, knew she was there too and was making no point in identifying themselves which Elizabeth knew that they didn't want to either.

She slowly and as quietly as possible tried to step away in the opposite direction from where she heard the noise. As soon as Elizabeth made a sound she could hear someone running towards her.

Elizabeth ran. She ran for about 10 seconds before she was jumped on from behind. He put his arm wrapped around her neck and held her up as Elizabeth continued to struggle. He tried to get her on her feet and when he finally managed to, Elizabeth elbowed him in the stomach with every ounce of power she had in her. She ran again.

Elizabeth kept running. Her mind was swarming with things of no importance. Everything from leaving the stove on to what she had planned for dinner the following day. She was running for a good minute or two now. She was starting to feel a little relieved because she couldn`t hear anything behind her. She kept looking back until she ran right into someone`s arm knocking over and slamming her head off in a park bench.

Everything went dark.

The first thing Elizabeth could remember was hearing a couple of guys swearing and laughing about something they'd just done. That was when Elizabeth started to get the feeling back in her body. She was aching everywhere, her back, her face, her arms, her legs. She was freezing. Shock and panic streamed through her body so fast it made her lightheaded. She wasn't wearing any pants and her coat was god knows where. The only warmth was, she could barely even think the words, was from the man on top of her. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't even fathom it, everything thing she'd gone through all those years ago was happening again. She broke out of her mind because she could be there no longer.

Elizabeth didn't know how long it was until they left, she could only measure things in pain, and she'd reached her threshold. She could barely move. Things were blurry, everything was throbbing. She hated to think of what she looked like because she'd never been in this much pain before including the last time. Elizabeth shuddered at the thought.

She ran back to her house as fast as she could but she was in so much pain she didn't think she was going to make it. She finally arrived to her house, she'd never thought she see it again. She couldn't even let her mind wander to the kids because she knew she'd break down and never be able to do what she did next.

Elizabeth grabbed another coat and keys, headed out the door and headed to the hospital. She thought about going to general hospital, but she knew too many people there and she didn't know how she was going to handle this yet so she went to Mercy hospital.

She did tonight was she couldn't back when she was fifteen years old. The doctors were kind and compassionate and treated her wounds with as much care as she could hope for.

"Listen, we're going to have to call the police, so you can give your statement". One of the doctors said.

"No, wait! I mean, I know I have to go to the police but I live in Port Charles. I drove here because I work at general hospital and I didn't want to have to deal with people knowing yet."

"I'm sorry ma'm, it hospital rules--"

"I'm sorry, you don't understand. I want to find the bastard who did this to me more than anyone else but I know who I'm going to go to. I have people I know at the station and I will go there first thing tomorrow, you have my word but I need to do this in my own time."

The doctors reluctantly agreed and released her.

Elizabeth drove home in complete silence. She didn't know what she was going to tell the kids or anyone for that matter. Should she tell people? She decided that maybe she shouldn't--at least not yet. People would just pity her and feel sorry for her, and she knew that it would be mostly sincere but considering the things she'd done recently, she didn't feel like she deserved anything from anyone--especially Lucky. She would say she took a tumble down the stairs which would explain the bruises on her face.

She still hadn't looked in the mirror, she didn't want to see what would be staring back at her but she knew it was bad. Her face felt puffy and throbbed all over. She hoped people would buy the stairs excuse. She'd also have to someone like Mac at the station and make him promise not to tell Lucky. Hopefully he'd understand and respect her wishes.

These things ran through her mind while her mind went through multiple scenarios how this could turn out. She hoped none of them would come true.

In no time, she was parked in front of her house once again. It seemed like days ago since she'd left, when it'd only been a couple of hours. Before she got out, she took a look around and held her keys in her hand ready to fight back if someone was here. No one came as she ran back in her house. Elizabeth locked all the doors and windows--then double checked every lock and window. When she was finally convinced she was safe from the outside, she decided she should finally take a look at herself.

She slowly walked up the stairs, taking off her coat and sweater until she was in just her bra and underwear as she stepped in front of the full length mirror.

Elizabeth gasped and started to cry. Her face had a swollen red eye that would surely be dark purple in the morning and a busted lip that was also twice its normal size. Her arms, back and legs had bruises everywhere. She noticed one bruise in particular on her upper arm was a hand print. She'd have to make a point to make sure that one was covered up at all times, though she planned on wearing long sweaters for the next few weeks anyway.

Elizabeth took a step into the shower and started scrubbing and scrubbing until she was started to burn herself with the loofa. No matter what she did, she couldn't shake the feeling of being dirty.

Elizabeth made it to her bed and slowly got underneath the covers. She made a promise with herself that this time, at night, when she was alone, the only time she'd let herself cry. In the morning she'd be calm and rational, as much as she could be. She'd tell Mac everything she could remember. She'd clean the house, she'd go grocery shopping. She'd do everything like she would any other day because to everyone else it would be.

Elizabeth stopped thinking about tomorrow and cried herself to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Elizabeth woke up the next morning just as she expected. Blue. Her eye had indeed turned a deep shade of purpley-blue, her bruises on her arms and legs had gotten darker, and the only thing that was an improvement was her lip. It had gotten slightly smaller.

What was she going to do? Well she knew what she was going to do but how was she going to pull it off. Should she ask Mac to come here? No, he wouldn't be able to do that. That was when she realized Lucky was off duty today. They had made plans this weekend to do something with the kids so he'd made sure he had the day off and he had the kids anyway.

Elizabeth took another shower, scrubbed herself down just as hard as she did last night. She caked on foundation and concealer even though it barely helped, put on a pair of big sunglasses, grabbed the pepper spray she's had in her drawer forever but forgot to take it and took off for the PCPD.

---

Elizabeth walked into the station looking for Mac and she found him at his desk.

"Hey, Mac".

Mac looked up from his desk.

"Oh, hey Elizabeth, Lucky's not here. He has today off."

"No, I know. I came here to see you." Elizabeth said quietly. "I need to report a crime".

Mac suddenly looked concerned.

"What is it?"

"Listen, before I tell you. I need you to promise me that you won't tell Lucky under any circumstances."

"Why not"? Mac was dumbfounded.

"Because, him knowing won't do any good and he'll help because he'll feel obligated and I just don't want that kind of help from him right now. I don't deserve it."

"Listen, why don't we go somewhere private so you can tell me what happened".

"Only if you promise."

Mac thought about it for a moment. He exhaled loudly. "Okay fine." Mac got up from his chair and led Elizabeth to a private office. "Take a seat".

Elizabeth did and Mac sat opposite of her.

"So, why don't you tell me what happened?"

Elizabeth sighed and slowly took off her glasses.

Mac's eyes widened as a look of shock flushed through his face. "Oh my god Elizabeth, what happened?"

She just starred at the table thinking about the last time she'd been in this situation.

"Uh, I -uh-" Elizabeth scoffed loudly. "This is harder than I had anticipated. Its not like I'm new to this or anything."

"Take your time, we're in no hurry." Mac reassured her.

"Well, last night I was walking through the park just trying to clear my thoughts and uh--Elizabeth pushed away from the table and got up. "You know what? This isn't necessary. I appreciate your time Mac but I don't need anything right now and I'd appreciate--" Mac cut her off.

"It happened again didn't it"? Mac asked without a doubt.

Elizabeth stopped. She was side on to Mac and the door. She turned her head toward Mac and whimpered. "Yeah." She said barely louder than a whisper. Elizabeth slowly sat back down and recounted all the details, everything she could remember about last night.

"Okay, Elizabeth, I think I have everything I need right now. I'll keep you updated on everything we find, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Mac". Elizabeth said as she started to get back up.

"Can I ask you something first?"

"Sure."

"Why don't you want Lucky to know?"

"Cause Lucky's upset with me right now"

"But I'm sure if he knew he'd help--" she cut him off.

"Exactly. I don't deserve his help. I'm not going to drag him into this out of some sort of obligation he feels he owes me."

Mac starred at her sympathetically. "Have you told anyone?"

"I told you." Elizabeth flashed a fake smile for a second. "Thanks Mac for all your help. Just make sure Lucky doesn't see the case file."

Mac got up and hugged Elizabeth. "Sure. Take care of yourself okay?"

Elizabeth put on her sunglasses and headed out the door.

On the way home, Elizabeth thought about how she felt when she was talking to Mac. It felt different from the last time when she was fifteen. Back then she'd been a complete basket case but now she was holding her own, at least she thought she was. Maybe it was just because she unleashed everything out at someone else. She suddenly got the urge to punch something really hard. It frightened her a little how strong that urge was.

That's when it hit her, she wasn't all that sad; she was full on pissed off. She wanted to find the sons of bitches who'd done this to her and beat the living daylights from them, wipe the smirks off their face and drag them in the snow and leave them there.

This time Elizabeth wasn't going to sit around afraid and unprotected, she wasn't going to depend on anyone else to help fight her battles, she was going to do whatever it took so that next time she'd be ready.

When Elizabeth got home she walked straight to the computer and started looking up numbers for self defence classes in Port Charles, something she could focus all her anger on. The door bell rang.

"Crap". Elizabeth said out loud

Elizabeth grabbed her sweater and covered her bruised arms and looked out the window. It was Nikolas.

Elizabeth opened the door, "Nikolas what are you doing here?"

Nikolas's face turned to horror, "Oh my god Elizabeth what the hell happened?" Nikolas asked as he walked in the house.

"Fine, Come on in." Elizabeth said sarcastically.

"C'mon, you expect me not to react when I find you all black and blue? Who did this to you?"

"Uh, Nickolas, it looks a lot worse than it is."

"Who did this"?

Elizabeth spoke with extreme effort to sound carefree. "I did this."

Nikolas looked at her, not believing her at all.

"I'm such a klutz, I was bringing laundry upstairs and one of Cam's toys was left on the stairs and I fell." 

"You fell down the stairs?"

"Yeah, I know. Elizabeth pointed at herself and said, "Klutz". Elizabeth faked a laugh. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Nikolas studied her for a moment, "I uh, just came to see how you were doing."

"I don't know, I'm hanging in there but I really don't think its a good idea for us to be seeing each other right now Nikolas. If I have a chance at ever patching things up with Lucky, we can't see each other even if it were completely innocent."

"And you really want that?"

"Of course I do. What I did, I don't even know why I did it but what I did with you was completely out of line and selfish and completely inconsiderate."

"No it wasn't Elizabeth, I love you and you love me and that's not our fault."

"Nikolas, I need you to leave."

"So, you're going to pretend like the last few months never happened?"

"You know, I can't believe you're even talking to me about this. Don't you care that you may have destroyed your relationship with your brother for good?"

"Of course I do."

"And don't you get that even if you have the smallest chance of patching things up with Lucky, you trying to get with me would be the very worst thing you could do?"

Nikolas didn't say anything.

"Nikolas just leave."

Nikolas walked to the door silently as Elizabeth followed. He left and she locked the door behind him.

Chapter Four

Today, Lucky was going to bring the kids home but Elizabeth was worried how the kids would react to how her face looked so she decided to call Lucky and tell him what happened, at least the story she was going to tell people that asked.

"Hey Lucky, um, I need to talk to you before you drop the kids off. Please call me back." Elizabeth hung up her phone. Of course he ignored her call. Just a minute later, her phone rang. She looked and saw that it was him.

"Hey, thanks for calling me back."

"Yeah, sure, just make it quick." Lucky said in a cold voice. Elizabeth still couldn't get used to the bitterness.

"Listen, I had a clumsy moment this weekend and I don't want to scare the kids when they get home."

"What do you mean"?

Elizabeth took a moment and took a deep breath. "Well I, uh, its stupid really, but I sort of fell down the stairs and got beat up pretty badly, especially in the face area."

"What?!" Lucky asked with panic. "Are you okay?"

That one question filled Elizabeth's heart with joy even if it would only last for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just looks a lot worse than it is, so if you could explain to them that I'm going to be fine and that its just my body healing it so they don't get scared when they see me."

"Don't worry; I'll take care of it."

"Thanks Lucky".

"Okay Elizabeth, that was the easy part. You're going to have to face him later and lie to him about this. And when it comes to this, he knows you better that you do." Elizabeth said starring in the mirror.

"You can do this, you can do this." she whispered over and over again.

-----

There was a knock on the door. Elizabeth tried to dress up as much as she could without looking like she was trying too hard. She wanted--she needed to look at healthy as possible, like she had everything together and she wasn't going to fall apart at a moment's notice.

She grabbed the doorknob, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, whispered "you can do this" one more time and opened the door with a full smile on her face.

Lucky's eyes told her he wasn't prepared to see Elizabeth as beat up as she was. She guessed maybe he didn't think it would be as bad as it was.

"Hey Lucky, where are the boys?"

Lucky not taking his eye on her wounded face said, "Out in the car. I wanted to see you before I brought them in just to see."

"Oh, yeah, I know. But trust me; it looks worse than it really is."

Lucky studied her, waiting for her to break but Elizabeth held strong.

"Are you sure you're okay, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth hesitated for a second; wanting so badly to tell him what happened so that he could just hold her. But she knew she didn't deserve him and she definitely didn't want him to feel obligated to her. If he came back or decided to give her another chance, it wouldn't be because of this.

"Yes. I'm fine."

Elizabeth didn't know if he was buying what she was selling or what, but he was trying to read her and she didn't know what book she had on her face.

"The boys are pretty wiped but they really wanted to see you after the accident, so I'll go get them."

When the boys came in, Cam especially was very shocked to see him mom that way, but Elizabeth reassured him that she would be fine and that this was just her body's reaction to fixing it. She brought the boys upstairs, tucked them in and watched them fall asleep.

Elizabeth walked downstairs looking for a good book to read but when she stepped off the final step she felt a cold breeze. She slowly turned her head and saw that the front door was open by about an inch. Panic rushed through Elizabeth as she ran to the closet and grabbed a baseball bat. She lightly stepped around the corner toward the kitchen when the door swung open. Elizabeth swung her bat at whoever was coming through but whoever it was saw it coming and stopped it. Elizabeth opened her eyes and saw that it was Lucky.

"Lucky? What are you still doing here?" she asked relieved.

"I never left because I wanted to talk to you about the kids".

Elizabeth looked confused. "You didn't leave? I thought--I thought --oh I don't know what I thought". Elizabeth tried to laugh it off.

"What's going on?"

"I thought someone broke in is what."

"Why?"

"Cause the front door was open that's why". Elizabeth said as she walked over and closed the door.

"Why didn't you just assume that it was me?"

I don't know Lucky, it was just the first thing that popped into my mind." Elizabeth said, frustrated with herself for not thinking.

Lucky studied Elizabeth. He figured there was more to the story than she was letting on but he couldn't' figure out what. When he didn't think he could get anything else out of her, he left.

Elizabeth ran to the door and locked it three times over.


	4. Chapter 4

Lucky sat in his car in front of his house after leaving Elizabeth. He didn't know what he was doing; he didn't know what he should do. He wanted nothing more than to pull her to him and hold her forever. Even though what happened was an accident, Elizabeth had still endured a lot of pain. Those bruises...and he could tell she had more. The long sleeve sweaters, the way she hugged the boys, the way she winced when they squeezed too hard. Lucky could barely watch her. She seemed so broken and he wanted nothing more than to be able to pick up the pieces back together, but he didn't know what to do with the pieces because he didn't have her heart anymore. The puzzle that was her heart was unknown now; he didn't know where the pieces fit. With that he cried once more before he went back into the house.

Lucky took a shower, trying to wash away today. It didn't help much he was so tired of feeling like he was wasting away. After everything that happened this year, he truly thought this was it for him and Elizabeth; they were really going to make it. How foolish he'd been.

There was a knock on the door. Lucky opened the door to him his brother Nikolas standing in front of him.

"Oh joy." Lucky said sarcastically. "To what do I owe this grand pleasure?"

Nikolas was unfazed; he expected this kind of reaction.

"I'm here to talk to you about Elizabeth."

"Unfortunately Nikolas, if I want to talk about Elizabeth, I assure you it will not be with you." Lucky said shutting the door. Nikolas put his hand up stopping the door.

"I think she's in trouble Lucky."

Lucky stared at Nikolas for a few seconds.

"Have you seen her lately?" Nikolas asked.

"I assume you're talking about her accident with the stairs?" Lucky said

"Oh, so you have seen her? What do you think happened?"

Lucky was almost amused. "Um, maybe what she said. She fell down the stairs Nikolas.

"You think that's all that happened?" Nikolas pushed.

"Did she say anything that made you think anything different?"

"No, it's just the way she was acting. She seemed rather on edge and after what happened the other day at the hospital—"Lucky cut him off.

"Wait what happened at the hospital?" Lucky asked.

"May I come in?"

Lucky stepped back and opened the door.

"So what happened at the hospital?"

"I assumed you would've heard by now. I would've come to you sooner but I really didn't think you wanted to see me. But after Elizabeth's accident..."

"What happened at the hospital Nikolas?" Lucky said getting irritated.

"Well, this is the second time I've witnessed Elizabeth have a public meltdown. I've had to suspend her from the hospital. She's losing it Lucky."

Lucky looked at Nikolas. "I don't know what to do with that."

"What do you mean? Be there for her." Nikolas said.

"Why don't you?"

"Because she doesn't want me, she wants you."

Lucky looked away, if Elizabeth had wanted him so bad she never would've done the things she'd done.

"Afraid I can't help you Nikolas." Lucky said, walking away. "Close the door on your way out, would ya?"

Lucky heard the door slam shut as he poured himself a drink.

A Week Later

Elizabeth's bruises were fading, thank god. Her eye was still slightly purple but not close to how bad it was the day after the incident. The bruises on her arms were almost completely faded, the only proof of how severe her bruises had been were the pictures Mac had taken of her.

Elizabeth still couldn't get over how she felt. As each day passed, the angrier she became. She had to restrain herself from punching walls up to three times a day. She'd been looking up self defence classes in the area and found one not far from where she lived. With all the free time she had now that she wasn't working, she was going to push herself to making sure what happened to her would never happen again—ever.

Elizabeth dropped the kids off at Lucky's for the weekend and drove over to her class.

She was parked outside the building looking in. She was going to do this and she was going to be awesome at it. It was like she had a one track mind. She walked in and changed into her workout clothes.

This dark bulky man came up to her and stuck out his hand. "Hi, my name is Terrance and I'll be your trainer. You must be Elizabeth."

Elizabeth faked a smile and shook his hand. He sort of reminded her of an even bulkier Denzel Washington.

"So, let's get started."

Weeks passed and Elizabeth concentrated on her training. She was like a zombie; her only focus was doing this and doing the best she could. She tried getting her job back because the money thing was really becoming an issue but Nikolas still wouldn't let her back because she refused to speak to a shrink. He did put her on a paid Leave of absence which irritated Elizabeth to no end; she just wanted to get back to work.

However, the need to word faded each day. She lived and breathed her training, when she wasn't with her trainer she was training herself. She was now able to flip a man over her back if she was grabbed from behind and she was getting better at using someone strength against them.

Elizabeth barely spent any time with anyone she knew anymore, the kids were spending more and more time with Lucky, because Elizabeth felt useless and she wanted—she needed to feel comfortable within her own skin, she was afraid someone would hurt the boys under her care, like she couldn't protect them. This only motivated her to work harder.

It was the end of training one day and Elizabeth was doing her closing stretches.

"Hey Elizabeth, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"What motivated you to start taking these classes?"

Elizabeth snapped her head at him like she was in a trance. "I uh-I was raped." Elizabeth said with little emotion.

His eyes widened, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"Oh hey don't worry; it's not the first time." Elizabeth said brushing it off as no big deal.

He just stared at her.

Elizabeth finally picked up on the silence and looked at him. "It was a long time ago and after what happened now, I don't want to give anyone a chance to do it again. That's why I'm here."

"They catch the guy?"

"Not yet." Elizabeth returned to speaking in her monotone voice.

With that Elizabeth left. As she was driving home, she looked into the park and saw two men. A chord struck within her and she jumped out of her car not even thinking and started toward them. She followed them into the woods and watched them talk and laugh whatever guys do. She hid in the bushes. They were sitting on a bench when one of the men grabbed the other man's face and kissed him. She put her head down, she was disappointed, she wanted it to be them, so they'd regret the moment they touched her.

Elizabeth stared down, the place was now deserted. She was about to leave when someone placed their hand firmly on her shoulder. Elizabeth reacted without thinking. She pulled the arm using all her strength and pulled whoever it was over her shoulder and slammed them on the ground. Right when she was about to give them a good punch in the face, Elizabeth recognized the face.

"Nikolas?"

Nikolas was trying to catch his breath as he attempted to stand up.

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Who the hell did you think I was? Hitler?"

Elizabeth flashed a fake smile.

"Where'd you learn to do that anyway?"

"I've had some free time." Elizabeth said emphasizing _free time_.

"Oh, I see. " Nikolas paused, unsure of what to say. "I haven't seen much of you lately."

"Yeah, I know." Elizabeth said.

"How about we grab dinner some night?"

"I'm sorry Nikolas, I don't think so." Elizabeth started to walk away but Nikolas grabbed her arm trying to pull her back but Elizabeth did another move and broke free without effort. "I said no Nikolas." Elizabeth walked away.

About 20 feet away, hearing and seeing the whole thing was Lucky.

"What the hell is going on with you Elizabeth?"


	5. Chapter 5

Lucky didn't know what to think. Elizabeth was spinning out of control but he didn't understand why she was reacting the way that she was. So he and her weren't together, but why would that make her so paranoid and on edge all the time. She'd been so distant lately, I mean, its not like they had the best relationship at the moment but up until a few weeks ago she was desperately trying to win him back all for it to abruptly stop. It wasn't like she was with Nikolas and keeping it a secret; that was made clear by their interaction in the park. Something wasn't right, he couldn't quite put his finger on it but he knew something was off and it was something big.

Lucky decided to visit Elizabeth; maybe if he talked to her he would get her to open up about what was going on with her.

"Hey Lucky." Elizabeth said with a smile that wasn't quite genuine, Lucky could tell.

"Hey, you mind if I come in?" Lucky asked sincerely.

"Sure." Elizabeth opened the door wide enough for Lucky to enter, when she closed it, she locked it. Lucky took notice but didn't comment.

"So, how have you been?" Lucky asked.

"Fine." Elizabeth said with a monotone voice.

"Fine" Lucky repeated. "Well good" Lucky said in a way he didn't believe her.

"Is there something I can help you with Lucky?"

Lucky stared at her for a moment, trying to read her face. Her bruises had healed but she still looked broken.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. You haven't really been yourself lately."

Elizabeth didn't say anything. She looked down at her hands and picked at her nails.

"You'd tell me right? If there was something seriously wrong, wouldn't you?" Lucky asked walking toward her.

Elizabeth stared at him for a moment. "What could possibly be seriously wrong?" She was trying to be convincing.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Fortunately Lucky, there's nothing wrong. I don't know what you're digging around for because there's nothing to find. Like I said, I'm fine."

Lucky could tell he wasn't going to get anywhere with her. If there was something wrong she wasn't going to tell him.

"Okay, well I got to get down to the station. I'll see you later." Lucky said as he left. When he got onto her doorstep he waited a moment looking in the window. All he saw her do was sit on the couch, not doing anything but stare straight ahead at nothing. Yeah, there was definitely something wrong.

Lucky entered the station with his mind full.

"Hey Mac, any updates"?

"Uh, yeah, I left the files on your desk" Mac said looking through some papers.

"Whatcha working on?"

Mac stood up straight rustling with the papers trying to get them back into the folder.

"Oh, its just an old case. We're not getting anywhere on it. Just checking it over, making sure I didn't miss anything the last 150 times I've looked at it." Lac said nervously.

"Want me to take a look at it, might be good to have a second opinion."

"No that's okay, maybe some other time." Mac said quickly before racing off. He went so fast that he dropped something without even realizing it. Lucky bent down and picked up a photograph. He turned it around and his stomach dropped.

No...it couldn't be. No way. There was just no way. This couldn't have happened. He was running out of arguments, because the picture kept staring back at him proving him wrong each time. Everything was starting to make sense, but he didn't want it to. Because if this were true, that would mean...

Lucky took his eyes off the photograph for someone was coming toward him. He looked up and saw Mac, with a face similar to the one he was wearing.

"Lucky why don't we go somewhere private?"

Lucky followed, his mind overwhelmed with thoughts.

"How long have you known"? Lucky asked, his face burning.

"Since the morning after it happened." Mac paused waiting for Lucky's reaction. "Listen, I wanted to tell you, I thought you should know, but Elizabeth made it very clear she didn't want you to know."

Lucky focused on Mac. "Why wouldn't she want me to know, after everything we went through the last time?" Lucky choked his words out.

"I don't have all the answers Lucky, but it was just after you two ended things, and she didn't want you to feel obligated to help her through this after what she just put you through."

"I want you to tell me everything." Lucky sat down and took the folder from Mac's hands and starting going to the remainder of the pictures taken. He was filled with rage as he came across one picture of a hand printed bruise on one of her arms.

"Okay, well she said she was just taking a walk through the park until she was alone completely. She said she stopped and was just looking at the stars when she heard someone running toward her. She ran and he eventually caught up to her and knocked her over. He tried to drag her off somewhere but she elbowed him his stomach and ran again."

Lucky was trying to let this sink in. But all he could do was imagine how broken she must have been after, with no one there to be there for her; with no one to bring her home. He couldn't help but imagine her fifteen year old self crawling out of the bushes.

"She said she ran for a while a couple minutes and she thought she'd gotten away but she ran directly into someone else knocking her over and she banged her head on a bench, making her go unconscious."

Lucky kept imagining all the bruises on her body the last time, when he saw them in person compared to this time. If it was possible, they looked even worse.

"The next thing she remembers was waking up to two men laughing. She was in the snow, half naked with someone on top of her." Mac stopped.

"Listen Lucky, maybe I shouldn't be the one to give you the details. You should ask Elizabeth."

Lucky couldn't think straight. There were _two_ guys? Two?! He didn't know what to do, he didn't know whether he should punch the wall or scream but he needed to do something.

"I don't need to hear anymore, about that. What happened after?"

"Well, she ran home and then went to the hospital".

"She did?" Lucky was relieved to hear that and also heartbroken because she was alone. He couldn't believe he didn't see it sooner. How could he have been so blind?

"Yes, she did."

"Have you come up with any suspects?"

Mac exhaled, "No we haven't"

Lucky wasn't surprised. That was the worst thing about rape cases, a lot of times you didn't catch the bastard.

"I need to go, okay Mac?"

"Sure, are you going to see Elizabeth?"

"I'm not sure where I'm going, I just need not to be here."

Lucky ended up at Luke's.

"Hey Cowboy"! Luke, seeing his son's face asked, "What happened"

Lucky stared at nothing and then his father. "I don't –I don't even know what to do. I just can't believe this has happened?"

"Are you okay? Are the kids okay?"

"Yes dad, I'm fine, the kids are fine, its not them." Lucky paused. "Its Elizabeth."

"Is she okay?"

"There's no way she can be, not after what happened."

"What happened?"

"I just can't believe it. It isn't fair and she doesn't deserve this."

"Lucky what are you talking about?"

"Remember that accident she got into there a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, you said she fell down the stairs."

"Yeah, that's what she told me, but I just found out that not true"

Luke waited for him to answer.

"It happened again." Lucky said his voice cracking.

"What happened again"?

"Think Liz, at fifteen years old." Lucky said as he pounded down another drink.

Luke stopped for a moment until a look of horror came over him, "She was—"Lucky cut him off.

"Raped? Yep." Lucky felt like throwing up everything he ever thought the word, let alone say it.

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"No, I just found out. She went to Mac about it and told him not to tell me."

"Why'd she do that?"

"Cause it was just after we broke up and she didn't want me to feel obligated to her somehow." Lucky still couldn't believe she didn't tell him. She should have known that he'd want to be there for her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea. She's not acting the same as last time. She's being tough and detached. Even if she did admit it to me, I don't think she'd let on how much its really bothering her and I don't think she'd let me in at this point. If I'd been there from the start, she wouldn't be like this now; she'd be working her way through it, not pretending it doesn't bother her."

"Hey now, this isn't your fault. You're not the one who attacked her."

"Yeah but dad, I knew something was up, she wasn't acting like herself and I just dismissed it. And now, she's broken and it may be too late."

"Have you even talked to her yet?"

"No. She doesn't even know I know yet."

"Well cowboy, if anyone's going to get through to her, its going to be you."

Lucky thought about this for a moment. He didn't need to think about it long before he knew all he wanted was to hold her and make everything go away."

"Call me a cab dad. I'm going to go see her."


	6. Chapter 6

Lucky had no idea what he was going to say to Elizabeth when he got there. She was so far gone that he didn't know if he'd be able to break through or that she'd even let him. What could he say to her? After all the cruel things he's said; even though she'd done wrong, she never deserved this. He kept thinking back to when he first saw her beautiful face just a few weeks ago all black and blue. He couldn't get out of his mind how haunted she looked, how unhinged. He just wrote it off as her freaking out over their breakup.

Lucky finally arrived in front of Elizabeth's house. He paid the driver, took a deep breath and slowly walked toward the house. He rang the doorbell and anxiously waited for her to answer. When she finally did, he couldn't help but notice how exhausted and worn out she looked. Elizabeth greeted Lucky so distantly and unemotional, he wondered if she was even fully aware of what was happening around her.

"So, what are you doing here Lucky"?

Lucky could barely breathe. He didn't know what to say to her.

"Elizabeth, I think we need to talk."

"If its about the boys, they're at grams house tonight".

"No, its not about them...its about you." Lucky said calmly.

Elizabeth immediately tensed up. "What about me?"

"Why don't you sit down".

"Why don't you tell me why you're here"? Elizabeth said without sitting down.

"Okay...I know I haven't been treating you very well since...well, you know. But I'm here to tell you that no matter what has happened between us, whether we're together or apart I will always care for you and if you need any help, I'm always here."

Elizabeth didn't even seem to be taking the words he was saying in.

"Where is this coming from Lucky?"

Lucky paused, unsure of how to tell her.

"I don't want to scare you or make you uncomfortable, I just want to help you, okay?"

Elizabeth stared at his confusingly for a moment until something in her eyes clicked with his and she knew. She knew that he knew too.

"Listen, its no big deal. I'm handling it and I'm okay. I'm not broken or defeated, honestly...I'm okay."

Lucky wasn't sure who she was trying to convince, him or herself. He for one wasn't.

"Elizabeth, you're not okay. You need help. Let me help you, please." Lucky pleaded.

"Lucky, I don't need your help. I don't need you to be my saviour or hero or whatever.

"Elizabeth, I know you. And I know that you're holding what feels like the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"You don't know anything! I'm fine and I don't need or want your help." Elizabeth said coldly.

Lucky knew there was a real possibility that she would respond this way.

"You don't need to go through this alone; I can help you through it. I want to."

Elizabeth scoffed at him. "Oh, really? Cause just a few weeks ago, you wanted nothing to do with me."

"I know—"Elizabeth cut him off.

"Lucky, I want you to leave."

Lucky didn't say anything, they were just locked in a eye grip.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Elizabeth, feeling frustrated, grabbed her phone. "If you don't leave, I'm going to call the police".

Lucky grabbed the phone from her hands, removed the battery and stuck it in his pocket.

"Fine, I will just leave then."

"If you're fine Elizabeth, like you say you are, then you'll be able to have a conversation with me right?"

Elizabeth stopped. She was back on to him now. She groaned in defeat and walked over to the couch and collapsed. "Fine, shoot."

"Okay...well first of all, why didn't you tell me?"

"Like I said, it was just after you left, and I didn't exactly want your pity."

"Mac made it sound like you didn't want me to feel obligated to help you."

Elizabeth said nothing. The wall she'd built up around herself the past few weeks was starting to thin out. Why did Lucky have to find out? This wasn't fair, she didn't want to hold him back any longer and she certainly didn't want to think about that night any longer. She shuddered at the thought of it.

"Elizabeth, talk to me." Lucky urged.

Elizabeth looked at him, doing her very best to keep the tears she could feel forming from falling. She was going to have to tell Lucky something to get him off her back. She couldn't deal with this right now.

"Okay...maybe I'm not fine." Elizabeth said and Lucky reacted unsurprised. "But I'm not broken either. I am truly dealing with it. Maybe I was messed up the day after but I feel much better now." Elizabeth was only telling half truths. She might not have been broken, but she was only given a band aid to fix herself and day by day she would feel it slowly peeling off.

"Have you been going to therapy? That helped a lot last time."

"Uh, yeah. I go twice a week." Elizabeth lied. She knew he'd ask her that.

"With Lainey?"

"Yep. Are you done with your questions? Are you convinced I haven't gone crazy?"

"I never thought you went crazy".

"I know, I know".

"Listen Elizabeth, I want you to know that all those things I said to you—well, maybe I went a little overboard. I just want you to know, if you ever need me, you know I'll be here."

Elizabeth hoped she put on a good enough show for Lucky to buy. It tore her up inside not to be able to run into his arms and just lay there forever, but he deserved better.

As Lucky left the house, he wasn't nearly as convinced as Elizabeth wanted him to be. He saw the hesitations she made while doing her best to convince him that she was "fine".

Elizabeth closed the door behind Lucky, and as soon as she closed the door she fell to the floor. She hadn't cried in weeks. She tried to calm herself down but it was like she didn't have any control over what was happening. She ran upstairs hoping Lucky didn't hear. However, Lucky heard and saw everything.

"Hey Lainey" Lucky said. He'd just arrived at the hospital to do a little investigative work.

"Hey Lucky, what can I help you with."

"Listen, I know you can't break doctor/patient confidentiality but I just want to know if I should be worried about Elizabeth or if she really is doing better?"

Confusion was painted across her face.

"What are you talking about? Elizabeth isn't a patient of mine. Has something happened to her?"

Lucky knew he wasn't surprised but Elizabeth knew how helpful these sessions were last time, why would she just abandon them now? "No, nevermind, my mistake."

Lainey got a page and had to leave.

"Well Elizabeth, if you aren't going to look after you, I will".


End file.
